PC makers are in for a blue Christmas

By

No one wants a PC this Christmas.
No one wants a PC this Christmas.
Photo: Toshiba

The holiday shopping season is usually a huge boon for PC manufacturers, but according to the latest estimates from the International Data Corporation, shoppers have decided to skip the PC upgrade as a gift this Christmas.

PC shipments are expected to drop 10% during the fourth quarter of 2015, predicts IDC in most recent PC Tracker report. The less-than-stellar quarter will bring year-over-year growth for all 2015 down to -10.3%.

Mac sales have defied the market’s trajectory for more than a year while the entire PC industry has struggled to attract customers. Tablet sales have been the biggest culprit for lower PC sales, but according to IDC VP of PC research, Loren Loverde, people are also using their PCs longer.

“Despite the substantial shift in spending and usage models from PCs toward tablets and phones in recent years, very few people are giving up on their PC – they are just making it last longer,” said Loverde.

The strong US dollar, depressed commodity prices, and extra inventory have caused IDC to lower its forecast for early 2016 too. Shipments are expected to stabilize by the end of 2016 when Microsoft drops Windows 7 support which should trigger a wave of commercial replacements, as long as people don’t just toss them for an iPad instead.

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